


Three Times Arthur Refuses To Hug Merlin And One Time Merlin Makes Him

by Queen_of_Camelot (The_Lady_in_the_Red_Cape)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Adorable, But Arthur liked it anyway so..., Cute, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Hugs, M/M, Merlin Needs a Hug (Merlin), Non-Consensual Hugging, Quote: Conceal Don't Feel (Disney), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26127568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lady_in_the_Red_Cape/pseuds/Queen_of_Camelot
Summary: Merlin scowled, wondering why the hell Arthur Pendragon had such a  beef with hugging people.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 298
Collections: Abby's Merlin Recs, BBC Merlin Rare Fair, MERLIN, MERTHUR, Merlin, Merlin Fanfiction, Merlin Reverse Bang, Merlin Stories to Reread, Merthur, Merthur Fics, Merthur fics, merthur fics





	Three Times Arthur Refuses To Hug Merlin And One Time Merlin Makes Him

“Well, thanks.”

Arthur said, stepping closer to Merlin and raising an arm.

It was very unlike Arthur to give hugs, but Merlin was not going to miss the opportunity when it presented itself. After all, if it weren’t for him, Arthur would still be having a troll as his stepmother.

Merlin grinned and reached out to hug the Prince, but said Prince immediately jumped back and held out his hands defensively. 

_“Woah!_ ”, he said, narrowing his eyes. Merlin froze, with his own hands still raised, mirroring Arthur’s posture. 

“ _What are you doing?”_

“I. . . thought you were going for a hug.”

“ _No_.”, Arthur said, drawing out the ‘ _o_ ' dramatically, that prat.

Merlin nodded, a little disappointed. "No. . ."

They stayed in the same position for over a minute, before slowly dropping their hands to their sides cautiously, as if expecting the other to pounce on them if they let their defenses down.

After giving Merlin a look that clearly said, ‘ _You really are an idiot, Merlin.’,_ Arthur walked away.

Sighing, Merlin reminded himself:

_Arthur Pendragon doesn’t do hugs._

* * *

“So is there no chance that we could have a hug?”

Merlin was asking for the impossible. He knew that. But if he put it across as a joke, as a sarcastic comment, _maybe Arthur wouldn’t notice the longing in his voice._

Arthur stood still for a moment. Merlin couldn’t see his face, because his back was turned to him. But he knew that Arthur would be glaring daggers.

Slowly, the Prince spun around and stalked predetorily towards the boy. For a second, Merlin wondered if he was going to get a _very aggressive_ hug (Merlin wouldn’t mind even that, as long as Arthur hugged him at all.) But instead, the Prince smacked him on the head in his usual not-hard-enough-to-actually-hurt manner and left the room, leaving Merlin pouting.

* * *

It wasn’t really Merlin’s fault that he and Arthur were caught in the net.

_Okay, maybe it was._

“I’m cold.”, he said honestly, shivering as the icy wind blew around the net that was suspended in mid-air.

“What do you expect me to do about it, _Mer_ lin? _Cuddle with you?”_ , Arthur asked irritably.

“Well, if you don’t want the two if us to freeze to death, then maybe that won’t be such a bad idea?”, Merlin asked hopefully, taking a different approach. Surely, Arthur can’t say _"No"_ to a survival hack?

“ _No._ ” , the Prince said acidly, and turned to lie on his side, facing away from Merlin, the net swaying dangerously in the process.

_Merlin scowled, wondering why the hell Arthur Pendragon had such a beef with hugging people._

* * *

“How's Merlin?”

Merlin could hear the worry in Arthur’s voice from where he was hiding, and he felt a little guilty for pulling this trick on him.

“Bad news.”, Lancelot said, and if Merlin didn’t know him any better, he would have missed the mischievous touch to his voice.

There was a brief silence. A heavy one. Merlin could imagine Arthur’s face muscles tightening as he faught back the tears. ' _Would Arthur have cried if I was dead?'_ , Merlin wondered. (The Prince _never_ cried.) _But something told Merlin that Arthur most certainly would have._

Merlin couldn’t do it anymore. He loved messing with Arthur, _but pretending that he had died_ would be too cruel. 

So he walked in.

“He’s still alive.”, Lancelot said, grinning and moving away to reveal Merlin walking towards them.

Arthur almost laughed in relief. His eyes showed a fondness that the Prince would never willingly let be shown.

Merlin went and stood in front of Arthur, bracing himslef for the tightest hug in history.

_So we can’t blame him for feeling completely let down, when all he got was a fim shoulder pat._

That’s it. Merlin had had enough. He had almost died, and Arthur was _still_ stubbornly refusing to hug him!

_“Oh, just hug me, you big Clotpole!”, he yelled, sounding annoyed and pleading at the same time._

When Arthur just stared at him with an uncertain expression in his eyes and his lips drawn in a tight line, Merlin muttered, _“Oh, for the love of God!_ ”, and threw himself at the Prince, wrapping his arms around him. He expected resistance; a hard shove and an indignant squeak from the blonde, and tightened his hold in advance. _But neither the shove nor the complaint came._

Instead Arthur pulled him closer and hugged him so tight that Merlin momentarily couldn’t breathe. He closed his eyes and revelled in the moment.

‘ _Finally…’_ , he thought to himself.

When Arthur pulled back, Merlin made a small _‘Mmph!’_ of protest and held on tighter. But the Prince was stronger and he peeled Merlin away from his body. Feeling a little sad that the moment was over, Merlin tried to step back, but before he could, a pair of lips came crashing on his. 

Arthur Pendragon was kissing him.

_Arthur Pendragon was kissing him!_

Now Merlin couldn’t breathe for an _entirely_ different reason.

Before he could stop his head from spinning and his heart from racing, Arthur pulled back with a fond smile, no longer bothering to hide his affection.

“Now, now, Merlin. . .”, The prince tutted playfully. “ _Look what you made me do.”_


End file.
